The Norton Simon Museum presents an exhibition that traces the effects of three synthetic blue pigments on French artists. The accidental discovery of Prussian blue in an alchemists laboratory around 1704 helped open up new possibilities for artistic expression at the dawn of the Enlightenment. Through stunning works from the Simons collection, alongside a handful of loans, A Revolution of the Palette explores the use of this pigment, followed by the introduction of cobalt blue and synthetic ultramarine, by French artists from the Rococo period to the threshold of Impressionism. A new palette available to artists, thanks largely to the addition of Prussian blue in the 18th century, helped fuel the heated philosophical debates regarding Newtonian color theory. The fascinating
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